


Surrender Unconditional

by stephanericher



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 10:22:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6514249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taiga’s too quick for him, too strong; he reacts faster and throws harder and Tatsuya’s reaching the point where he can’t really keep up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surrender Unconditional

Taiga’s too quick for him, too strong; he reacts faster and throws harder and Tatsuya’s reaching the point where he can’t really keep up. Tatsuya does have one advantage, though. He ducks behind a tree, scraping a handful of snow from a low-hanging branch with one gloved hand and forming it into a ball—he makes better snowballs; even with the snow as dense and water-saturated as it is today his are packed together well enough not to fall apart in midair—of course, Taiga can duck out of the way (and he does) but had he been where Tatsuya anticipated he’d be hitting the marks. Taiga’s come in faster, harder, splattering on Tatsuya’s coat until it looks as if he’s been rolling in a salt mine, but those are only the ones that manage to make it through. A good chunk of them have fallen apart in midair, or broken enough to spin their trajectories out of whack.

Tatsuya peers out from behind the tree—and Taiga’s not there. He turns around and just catches a flash of black nylon, Taiga’s coat, disappearing behind the other side. And then Taiga half-tackles him, pushing him to the ground; the snow cushions his fall but it’s still wet and lumpy. But Taiga’s made a mistake here; Tatsuya knows full well how to throw someone off him even if they have a noticeable size advantage. He rolls over, pushing Taiga down with him, down against the snow, kneeling on his chest and pressing his hands to Taiga’s shoulders. The look of surprise on his face is adorable and kind of hilarious; Tatsuya laughs (but the his throat burns in the chill of the air). The wind picks up; snow from the tree branch, loosened by his hand blows off and he turns his head to avoid having it catch his face. Of course, he loosens his hold on Taiga and it’s enough for Taiga to pull himself off and slide Tatsuya into his lap. Through the thin layer of his jeans, he’s incredibly warm despite how cold his head must be, how red his nose and ears are, how his cheeks are pale and his lips are more blue than pink.

Their mouths are close enough for Tatsuya to feel Taiga’s breath against his own lips, on his teeth; he could bridge the gap right now—with the look Taiga’s giving him, he really, really wants to. So he indulges himself and places a quick kiss on Taiga’s lips, barely having enough time to feel just how cold they are before springing to his feet and running. He’s not going to give in that easily.

Taiga follows him, but his footsteps and breaths are heavy enough for Tatsuya to hear him coming. Tatsuya grabs a handful of snow, forming it into a ball as he runs, keeping himself from going in too straight a line in order to stop himself from being a moving target—and then a snowball flies past his head. Fuck. He turns around; Taiga’s already gathering another clump together in his hands. Tatsuya fires back, forcing his attention to stray for a moment. But he’s close; Tatsuya’s lead has been all but shaved off at this point. He scrambles together another clump of snow, but Taiga’s already advancing again, and there’s no point in trying to run.

Taiga picks him up, pinning his arms to his side. Tatsuya squirms, trying to free himself, but Taiga’s too strong. Taiga’s hands are in exactly the right place to grab his ass, and Tatsuya only realizes this when Taiga does it, and makes an involuntary half-squeaking noise. He can almost feel Taiga’s smirk in the air before he dips Tatsuya down and then lets go—the fall is maybe two inches but it feels longer, as if he’s suspended indefinitely until he’s not.

He sinks into the snow; he can feel the dense wetness melting into the few naked spots on the back of his neck where the scarf’s come loose, and the coldness presses against the back of his jeans. It’s already too far on the way to soaking through for him to do anything about it, so he just lies staring up at the grey-white sky. The expanse is like a smudged piece of paper where someone had written something down with a pencil and decided that it was a mistake and tried to erase it but the marks were too dark and the eraser too shitty to really get rid of it. Tatsuya clenches his gloved hands in the snow and breathes out, a cloud of condensation puffing up into the air like haze.

“Tatsuya?”

He doesn’t reply.

“Tatsuya? Are you okay?”

Taiga leans over him; his face is scrunched with worry and Tatsuya clenches his hands tighter and shoves the two fistfuls of snow into Taiga’s face. Taiga splutters like a cat thrown into the bathwater, rubbing his face to clear the melting clumps, some of which are still sticking to his eyebrows and eyelashes despite the attempts. Tatsuya laughs.

“Asshole,” says Taiga.

“You’re the one who shoved me in a snowbank,” says Tatsuya.

He still hasn’t made any move to get up, shifting his arms so he’s almost lounging like this is some sort of recliner. It’s still cold and gross, but it’s actually pretty comfortable like this.

“You seem to be having fun in there,” says Taiga.

“Join me?”

He’s not quite prepared for the impact of Taiga dropping next to him, destroying the ridge Tatsuya’s been using as an armrest, and rolling over on top of him. He’s so warm, even through the shell of his parka, that Tatsuya’s sure the snow is all going to start melting away any second. Taiga’s warm breath feels strange but welcome on his face, and then their lips meet. Taiga’s tongue is wetter than the snow, warm and smooth against Tatsuya’s, even though his lips taste like the dirty snow.

“You win,” Tatsuya murmurs.

Taiga grins against his mouth.

“But don’t get cocky.”

“Why not? I have every right,” says Taiga.

He brushes his nose against Tatsuya’s; it’s even colder than the snow but Tatsuya doesn’t visibly react. He threads his arms around Taiga’s waist and Taiga’s smile softens.

“You ready to go back in?”

“Mm.”

“Celebrate my victory?”

“I could throw more snow at you,” Tatsuya says, burying his face into Taiga’s neck. “Stuff it down your back.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

And then Taiga picks him up again, stumbling backwards before adjusting to the weight and the sensation of standing again. Tatsuya stays suspended in the air for a few seconds before standing down and fixing his scarf. Taiga takes his hand before they start walking again, their feet stamping down the coat of snow the only sounds in the still air. The sky is darkening slightly; it’s getting late, and it might be the way they’re soaked with half-melting snow against their skin but there’s definitely a bite in the air that wasn’t there before. But with Taiga’s hand in his and the smile on his face, it’s easy to ignore.

**Author's Note:**

> for himukaga 4/10 
> 
> this was written to. like half of death cab for cutie's discography (sometimes i'm a slow writer ok)
> 
> may or may not take place in same universe as 'as snow'


End file.
